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Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara

Duchess Ferrara, Modena and Reggio

Lucrezia de' Medici (14 February – 21 April ) was a member of the House of Medici and by marriage Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from to

Married to the intended husband of her elder sister Maria, who died young, her marriage was short and unhappy.

The Duchess died of pulmonary tuberculosis, but almost immediately after her death there were rumors that she had been poisoned on the orders of her husband. That suspicion inspired the English poet Robert Browning to create a dramatic monologue in verse "My Last Duchess" ().

Life

Early years

Born in Florence on 14 February ,[1] Lucrezia was the fifth child and third daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence (and from Grand Duke of Tuscany), and Eleanor of Toledo.

Her paternal grandparents were the famous condottiereGiovanni delle Bande Nere and Maria Salviati (granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent).[2] Her maternal grandparents were Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Viceroy of Naples, and Maria Osorio, 2nd Marchioness of Villafranca del Bierzo.[3] Lucrezia was named after her great-grandmother Lucrezia de' Medici (–) (mother of Maria Salviati).

Like all children of the Medici ducal couple, Lucrezia received a good education and was brought up in strict accordance with Spanish court ceremonial, which her mother followed.

Only a duenna was permitted to be with the girls of the family in their chambers, and they could not leave without permission. In addition to their father and brothers, only elderly confessors were admitted to them privately.[3]

Marriage

From childhood, Lucrezia's parents sought suitable marriage candidates for their daughters.

From to , it was planned that Lucrezia would be married to Don Pedro de Aragona y Cardona, 3rd Duke of Montalto. Then in she was betrothed to Fabio Dal Monte, a nephew of Pope Julius III, but the engagement was canceled after the death of the Pope in

In , as a sign of reconciliation between Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (who held a pro-French position), and King Philip II of Spain, it was decided that Alfonso d'Este, Hereditary Prince of Ferrara, would marry Maria de' Medici, the eldest daughter of Cosimo I, an ally of Spain.

Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto lopez Biografia" PDF. Despite this, after her death, there were rumors that she had been poisoned. Giovanni delle Bande Nere 9. Toggle the table of contents.

However, Maria died shortly thereafter and Lucrezia took her place.[6]

The marriage between a prince from the House of Este and a princess from the House of Medici was opposed by a pro-French party at the groom's court. King Henry II of France's sister, Margaret, and daughter, Elisabeth, were suggested instead to the Ferrarese court as wives for the hereditary Prince.

And the ambassadors who arrived in Florence from Ferrara, who had not yet seen Lucrezia, had previously heard rumors deliberately spread around the Ferrara court as to her plain appearance and poor health.

Nevertheless, on 13 April , a marriage contract was signed in Pisa, according to which a dowry of , gold scudi was given for the bride.

On 11 May Alessandro Fiaschi, the chief representative of Ferrara, presented a ring to Lucrezia as a sign of the betrothal.

Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto rivera: Cosimo employed the architect Michelozzo, who was considered one of the great pioneers of building design during the Renaissance, to remodel it around a central courtyard overlooked by loggias. The marriage between a prince from the House of Este and a princess from the House of Medici was opposed by a pro-French party at the groom's court. View web version. Nevertheless, she remained isolated and she died less than a year later of tuberculosis after several months of suffering.

The ambassadors saw her then for the first time and were pleased with the appearance of the princess. She seemed to them a well-mannered and virtuous girl.[1]

Alfonso d'Este solemnly entered Florence on 18 May On 3 July, year-old Alfonso and year-old Lucrezia were married in the chapel in the Palazzo Pitti (or according to another version in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella), by the bishop of Cortona, Giovan Battista di Simone Ricasoli.

At the request of his mother-in-law, the hereditary Prince of Ferrara agreed to postpone the wedding night until such time as his bride reached sexual maturity.

According to an oral agreement between Alfonso and his father-in-law, which they reached at the conclusion of the marriage contract three days after the wedding, Alfonso left Florence.

He went to the French court in Paris, who promised to pay off a sovereign debt to the Duchy of Ferrara of , ducats.

Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto rodriguez Artworks Toggle child menu Expand. Maria Salviati At the request of his mother-in-law, the hereditary Prince of Ferrara agreed to postpone the wedding night until such time as his bride reached sexual maturity. In addition to their father and brothers, only elderly confessors were admitted to them privately.

Lucrezia, despite the invitation of her father-in-law to move to Ferrara, remained in Florence at the request of her mother, to wait for her husband to come for her.[a][1][10]

Together with her sister Isabella, the new hereditary Princess of Ferrara continued to live in the chambers of the Palazzo Pitti, isolated from the rest of the world.[6] Lucrezia's numerous letters to her husband often went unanswered.

While waiting for Alfonso to come to her, she ate almost nothing and spoke little, and every day she prayed for him for a long time at the morning service. The hereditary Princess desperately wanted to leave her strict maternal care and start an independent life.

After some time, Duke Cosimo I expressed dissatisfaction to his son-in-law at the manner in which he was delaying his return to collect his wife.

Only after the death of Duke Ercole II on 3 October , when Alfonso became Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio under the name of Alfonso II, and his spouse became, accordingly, Duchess consort, did he leave France and come to retrieve her. On 17 February , Lucrezia solemnly entered Ferrara.[b][1][10]

Circumstances of death

Once in Ferrara, the already frail Duchess spent almost all her time in her rooms.

Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto antonio The hereditary Prince of Ferrara had married on the orders of his father and was demonstratively arrogant and cold when dealing with his young bride and her relatives. Lucrezia de' Medici In other projects. Alfonso d'Este solemnly entered Florence on 18 May

Less than a year after her arrival, on 21 April , she died, after suffering a month of fever, severe weight loss, constant coughing and a permanently bleeding nose. According to Dr. Andrea Pascvali, sent from Florence to the Duchess by her father, Alfonso was concerned about Lucrezia's state of health during the entire period of her illness.

An autopsy by the same doctor revealed that the Duchess had died of "putrid fever"; modern historians believe that her death was caused by pulmonary tuberculosis. Despite this, after her death, there were rumors that she had been poisoned.[1][6][10]

Lucrezia was buried in the Corpus Domini Monastery, the ancestral mausoleum of the House of Este in Ferrara.

Her marriage to Alfonso II was childless, and the widowed Duke married twice more: in to the Archduchess Barbara of Austria and in to Margherita Gonzaga.

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    • Neither marriage produced children. With the death of Alfonso II, the Duchy of Ferrara became part of the Papal States, and the Duchies of Modena and Reggio passed to his nephew Cesare d'Este, a descendant of the d'Este family through an illegitimate line.[1][14]

    In culture

    A portrait of Lucrezia has survived, now kept in the North Carolina Museum of Art in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.

    According to some experts, it was the work of Bronzino; according to others, it was painted by Bronzino's nephew Alessandro Allori. A copy of this painting is kept in the Palazzo Pitti. Other portraits of Lucrezia are in the collections of the Uffizi Gallery and the Ambras Castle; the half-length image in the Uffizi has been attributed to Alessandro Allori.

    There are several medals depicting the Duchess of Ferrara: three works by Pastorino dei Pastorini and one by Domenico Poggini.

    All of them were made to commemorate the wedding of Lucrezia and Alfonso II.

    Shocked at the death of the young Duchess, Bronzino dedicated a posthumous sonnet to her. Lucrezia is also the heroine of the dramatic monologue in verse, "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning, first published under the title "Italy" in , and under the more well-known title in She is also the subject of the novel The Marriage Portrait by award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell.

    Inspired by Browning's poem, her marriage to Alfonso is the subject of Gabrielle Kimm's novel His Last Duchess.

    Ancestry

    Notes

    1. ^In part, the decision of Duchess Eleanor to keep her daughter with her was provoked by the attitude of her son-in-law towards the members of the Medici family.

      The hereditary Prince of Ferrara had married on the orders of his father and was demonstratively arrogant and cold when dealing with his young bride and her relatives.[10]

    2. ^ At first, Alfonso II had sent a retinue to fetch Lucrezia from Florence. But when his mother-in-law demanded that he come and personally take his wife from the parental home, the Duke of Ferrara had to obey.

      He himself led the wedding procession and, accompanied by Lucrezia's brother, Cardinal Giovanni, arrived in Florence to fetch her.[10]

    References

    1. ^ abcdefBiondi, Grazia ().

    2. Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto rivera
    3. Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto maria
    4. Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto e

      5. "Lucrezia de' Medici, duchessa di Ferrara". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 66 (in Italian). Retrieved 31 August

    5. ^Fasano Guarini, Elena (). "Cosimo I de' Medici, duca di Firenze, granduca di Toscana". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 30 (in Italian). Retrieved 31 August
    6. ^ abArrighi, Vanna ().

      Lucrezia de medici biography of alberto Maria Salviati After his death, in , the villa was allowed to become somewhat run down until the early 17th century, when Cardinal Carlo de' Medici commissioned the remodelling of the interior, and updated the garden. This union significantly impacted the power dynamics of Italian nobility. Lucrezia is thought to have inspired Botticelli's depiction of baby Jesus.

      "Eleonora de Toledo, duchessa di Firenze". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 42 (in Italian). Retrieved 31 August

    7. ^ abcArrivo, Georgia. "Lucrezia di Cosimo I. Biografia"(PDF). Scritture delle donne di casa Medici nei fondi dell’Archivio di Stato di Firenze (in Italian).

      Retrieved 31 August

    8. ^ abcdeStaley, Edgcumbe. "Lucrezia. — Eleanora. — Isabella". The Tragedies of the Medici. Retrieved 31 August
    9. ^Quazza, Romolo ().

      "Alfonso II d'Este, duca dì Ferrara". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 2 (in Italian). Retrieved 31 August

    Bibliography

    Tuscan princesses by birth

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    2nd generation
    3rd generation
    4th generation
    5th generation
    6th generation
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    * also an archduchess of Austria
    ^did not have a royal or noble birth